How Does Combat Work in Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX?

Being two monster rising games, it should surprise no one that Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX feature quite a bit of combat. The combat system that powers up both games is actually pretty deep, but they don’t explain it properly, leading to frustration, and a lot of lost fights.

Here’s how the combat works in both games and what you should pay attention to if you want to win.

How Does Combat Work in Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX?

Combat in Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX is relatively straightforward, but not knowing how things work will make it more difficult for you to win fights, and tournaments, as soon as you move past the very early game.

In Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX, monsters fight one against one, unleashing their special techniques against the other until their HP have been reduced to 0. If you are feeling very confident in your monster’s capabilities, you can let it do its own thing by refusing to give it advice at the start of a battle. Even if you do decide to give advice to your monster, you may still end up not being able to do much if the monster has low loyalty, as the lower this stat is, the less the monster will listen to you.

If the loyalty stat is high enough, you will be able to move the monster to the left or right with the ZL and ZR buttons, change attacks with the directional pad, use them with A, force monsters apart with B and even forfeit the fight with the Y button.

Using attacks comes with its own set of mechanics. Each attack has a Will or Guts requirement, as well as a hit rate and range. To use attacks, your opponent will have to be in range, and you will know this by checking the bar located right above the attacks: once it’s exactly above one of them, the opponent is in range for that specific attack.

As such, positioning well and using the right attack at the right moment is one of the most important aspects of the Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX combat. At the start, you may have some trouble keeping all of these elements in mind, but with enough practice, you will become a master in no time!